When you read this I’ll be out of town … and probably my mind

I’d heard you could pre-write blog posts and WordPress would post them automatically and I finally took the time to figure it out. If I did it correctly this should post Saturday, May 26 at 1:00 PM Pacific time. You’ll be sure to let me know if you don’t see it by then won’t you? Thanks.

So I’m gone because this is the weekend we’re going to Portland. Almost a three hour drive to spend one night, take a brunch cruise on the river and come home the next day. Sigh. [Shakes it off.] We’ll also probably play Phase 10 or something till maybe 10 PM Saturday night because that’s how we roll.

I will have a good time! The brunch menu sounds nice even though there are no meat choices that Hubs can eat :(:

Hubs has high uric acid which is exacerbated by certain foods such as most meat, salmon, and certain vegetables. The term most people know is gout. Gout is not fun. When your uric acid level elevates to just the right place it crystalizes IN. YOUR. JOINTS. I’ve heard it described as lots of stabbing needles IN. YOUR. JOINTS! It took ten years but we’ve found the magic spell to prevent most gout attacks: DON’T EAT MEAT (or anything else that tastes good). Okay, that’s an exaggeration. He can eat chicken and turkey, without the skin. Yay.

We’ve become proficient at finding yummy substitutes. There are some tasty chicken and turkey sausages in the supermarkets now (chicken and apple sausage is a favorite of mine). But the cruise chef hasn’t stretched his culinary muscles that far yet. So Hubs is going to be stuck with bread, cheese and fruit. And maybe eggs, though I don’t think he’s fond of Eggs Benedict (yummo!). I may have mentioned he’s Jewish? (Ahem “Bubbe” blathers after all.) So bagels will be welcome but he won’t be able to indulge in Lox to go with. And the bacon and sausage will be no-nos. Ditto the shrimp. Maybe I’ll sneak in some of our sausage.

Besides the menu, the cruise itself could be fun I guess. I’ve never been big on cruises though. We did a five day cruise to Alaska a few years ago and until I found the library I wasn’t a happy camper …um… sailor or whatever. I don’t gamble so the casino wasn’t attractive. It was too cold to swim, even if there had been room (one of the ship’s pools was closed and the other was crowded with – ugh – children; which wouldn’t have been bad if they were mine). We played cards one night which is always fun because everyone is so passionate about it. There’s always a lot of swearing and threats and laughing. I seem to recall we went to a show one night too, though I couldn’t tell you anything about it. Memorable huh?

The other Washington family who are going inquired about maybe caravanning down together. Have I mentioned how much I love my husband? He told them he wanted to be in Portland by noon or so. They aren’t likely to be ready to leave until 11 AM so (keep your fingers crossed!) we should have some alone time on the way there and for a little while before anyone else gets there! Well, as alone as you can be with two rowdy dogs in tow.

Oy gevalt! My dad and brothers have gout, which is extremely hereditary. I’ve had bouts that have all the symptoms & almost the severity [it’s painful even to take off a sock; my dad’s diagnostic sentence is, “the sheet hurts”], but my docs are dismissive because, “pre-menopausal women don’t get gout.” They add that the only way to confirm it is to needle-aspirate my painful joint during an attack. which, conveniently, have so far fallen on weekends (when I was most likely to be eating red meat.) I’ve been reluctant to pay ER copays to have that kind of pain doubled. So, as you say, poultry only, no dark fish; from what my brothers say, I don’t think I’d want the meds anyway.

Second oy– Looks like your Portland chef also isn’t up on kashrut, eh? All that pork [incl. the Eggs Benedict, which includes ham or bacon], so that the most promising protein [albeit just for non-gout sufferers], is the Lox. But wait, the Lox is not paired with its traditional bagels, but “with SHRIMP”? Way to treif it up!

Hope you had a a great time otherwise, and visit with the family. The NW is my favorite part of the country, but I’m stuck here, land-locked in the Midwest… with today’s 94 F. high to be followed by 98 tomorrow!

Welcome! That does sound like gout. After living with Hubs’ condition for about 14 years, well you get pretty good at identifying it. Of course he was in denial for years and years – with the result he continued having occasional but quite severe attacks. For a long time natural remedies helped but only temporarily and it wasn’t until we found this great book Beating Gout by Victor Konshin, that he began to get control over it. He hasn’t had a bad attack in a few years now. In fact he so loved the book he gave it to someone whose husband was suffering with gout to help them get relief! Oh and if you hadn’t heard – besides most meats and a quite a few veggies, BEER is the number one no-no for gout. 😦

In the chef’s defense it wasn’t a Jewish cruise, merely a regularly scheduled brunch cruise on the river open to anyone willing to pony up the dough. Pork was definitely okay for the majority of the guests. And the only reason the Lox and shrimp were together was to make the best use of the buffet space which was tiny. They shared an ice bed to stay fresh but weren’t technically “together”. Plus there were lovely bagels available to go with too!

My in-laws don’t keep kosher anyway (they’re very, very relaxed) and I’m not Jewish so no one at our table was offended. 😀